White Collar 3x08 - 3x10
I stopped watching White Collar as it aired after I became obsessed with Supernatural, and got the impression around LJ that it had gone so far downhill that there was no hurry to pick it up again. It drifted down my list of priorities to about the level of doing my backlog of ironing. Yesterday I finally had to do the ironing so I can go back to work, so I caught up on White Collar at the same time.
I might not feel this way if Peter/Neal was still the primary place I was currently looking for that emotional charge from slash, but given that it's not, I was rivetted!
I'm enjoying both the strained Peter-Neal relationship and the outright Neal-Mozzie conflict. It's so believable that Neal, torn between Peter and Mozzie, might lie to Mozzie in that moment he had to make a decision about whether to tell him about finding the list in Peter's safe. And it's such a nice meaty serious conflict, not like the relatively minor issue that Sam and Dean were at odds over during this season. I love it, especially Neal's forcefulness during their conversations and Mozzie's 48 hour ultimatum!
It's also very believable to me that Neal went along with Mozzie's plans to this point, despite what he's risked to do so. He's a long-term con artist and that's not something he can easily turn off, even for Peter - plus of course he is very close to Mozzie.
Believable angst over an important, fundamental issue! What could be better! (OK, hugs and declarations of love are better, but this kind of angst is pretty good!)
End of 3x08:
Peter on the phone to Neal, while Neal is in Peter and El's bedroom breaking into their safe: Listen, you and I have been through some stuff. We've had to keep things from each other. But if you want to talk, I mean really talk, I'm here for you.
End of 3x09:
Neal: Someone put a bounty on his head. A six million dollar bounty. You know, that's roughly the black market sale price of the Degas.
Mozzie: No, that's exactly the sale price of the Degas.
Neal: You fenced it. You should have asked me.
Mozzie: Well, you should have told me Sarah knew about the warehouse. Guess we're in the habit of keeping secrets now.
Neal: I told you not to sell it!
Mozzie: It was all set up. I didn't have time to fence anything else.
Neal: It's on the list, Moz! It's on the damn list!
Mozzie: Excuse me? Where did you get this? You told me when you broke into Peter's house, the list wasn't there.
Neal: It was.
Mozzie: You lied to me?
Neal: We got bigger problems.
Start of 3x10:
Mozzie: You set this up?
Neal: I had to talk to you somehow.
Mozzie: Another piece of fiction. Much like the yarn you spun about not having the FBI's art manifest.
Neal: You have a right to be angry. I lied to you.
Mozzie: Why?
Neal: I broke into Peter's safe. I had the list in my hand, I was ready to take the treasure and go.
Mozzie: Then why didn't you?
Neal: Peter call- I have a life here.
Mozzie: But we had a dream.
Neal: Well dreams change! I mean, have you ever thought that we might not like whiling away our days on a Mediterranean island?
Mozzie: Then we sell our island and come back!
Neal: No, you can come back. I can't. I run on this, and New York is just a memory for me.
End of 3x10:
Mozzie: Neal, I've been really patient. But it's time for you to make a choice. Do you want to leave, or not?
Neal: No. There are things about this life I'm not ready to give up.
There's still plenty of Peter/Neal potential there. Neal just has to get himself out of this mess he's followed Mozzie into (it's been a while since I watched the rest of the season, so I may be unclear on the details, but I think he's mostly followed Mozzie's lead with regard to the treasure rather than plotted the theft himself?).
You've got to be pretty brave to parachute off a tall city building. I gave Neal some extra bonus points there.
My only complaint with these episodes is a pet peeve: Peter saying "He took my wife" at the end. I know he calls Elizabeth that a lot, but in my view terms like that are only appropriate if you're speaking to someone who doesn't know your significant other's name or their relationship to you. If they do, calling them "my wife" or "my husband" or "my anything" just sounds creepily possessive to me, or alternatively like the speaker is desperately insecure. She's a person in her own right, Peter, not primarily "your wife". Use her name!
Looking forward to seeing what happens next!
ETA: A vid rec with footage up to and including 3x10: Rolling in the Deep by wistful_fever.
I might not feel this way if Peter/Neal was still the primary place I was currently looking for that emotional charge from slash, but given that it's not, I was rivetted!
I'm enjoying both the strained Peter-Neal relationship and the outright Neal-Mozzie conflict. It's so believable that Neal, torn between Peter and Mozzie, might lie to Mozzie in that moment he had to make a decision about whether to tell him about finding the list in Peter's safe. And it's such a nice meaty serious conflict, not like the relatively minor issue that Sam and Dean were at odds over during this season. I love it, especially Neal's forcefulness during their conversations and Mozzie's 48 hour ultimatum!
It's also very believable to me that Neal went along with Mozzie's plans to this point, despite what he's risked to do so. He's a long-term con artist and that's not something he can easily turn off, even for Peter - plus of course he is very close to Mozzie.
Believable angst over an important, fundamental issue! What could be better! (OK, hugs and declarations of love are better, but this kind of angst is pretty good!)
End of 3x08:
Peter on the phone to Neal, while Neal is in Peter and El's bedroom breaking into their safe: Listen, you and I have been through some stuff. We've had to keep things from each other. But if you want to talk, I mean really talk, I'm here for you.
End of 3x09:
Neal: Someone put a bounty on his head. A six million dollar bounty. You know, that's roughly the black market sale price of the Degas.
Mozzie: No, that's exactly the sale price of the Degas.
Neal: You fenced it. You should have asked me.
Mozzie: Well, you should have told me Sarah knew about the warehouse. Guess we're in the habit of keeping secrets now.
Neal: I told you not to sell it!
Mozzie: It was all set up. I didn't have time to fence anything else.
Neal: It's on the list, Moz! It's on the damn list!
Mozzie: Excuse me? Where did you get this? You told me when you broke into Peter's house, the list wasn't there.
Neal: It was.
Mozzie: You lied to me?
Neal: We got bigger problems.
Start of 3x10:
Mozzie: You set this up?
Neal: I had to talk to you somehow.
Mozzie: Another piece of fiction. Much like the yarn you spun about not having the FBI's art manifest.
Neal: You have a right to be angry. I lied to you.
Mozzie: Why?
Neal: I broke into Peter's safe. I had the list in my hand, I was ready to take the treasure and go.
Mozzie: Then why didn't you?
Neal: Peter call- I have a life here.
Mozzie: But we had a dream.
Neal: Well dreams change! I mean, have you ever thought that we might not like whiling away our days on a Mediterranean island?
Mozzie: Then we sell our island and come back!
Neal: No, you can come back. I can't. I run on this, and New York is just a memory for me.
End of 3x10:
Mozzie: Neal, I've been really patient. But it's time for you to make a choice. Do you want to leave, or not?
Neal: No. There are things about this life I'm not ready to give up.
There's still plenty of Peter/Neal potential there. Neal just has to get himself out of this mess he's followed Mozzie into (it's been a while since I watched the rest of the season, so I may be unclear on the details, but I think he's mostly followed Mozzie's lead with regard to the treasure rather than plotted the theft himself?).
You've got to be pretty brave to parachute off a tall city building. I gave Neal some extra bonus points there.
My only complaint with these episodes is a pet peeve: Peter saying "He took my wife" at the end. I know he calls Elizabeth that a lot, but in my view terms like that are only appropriate if you're speaking to someone who doesn't know your significant other's name or their relationship to you. If they do, calling them "my wife" or "my husband" or "my anything" just sounds creepily possessive to me, or alternatively like the speaker is desperately insecure. She's a person in her own right, Peter, not primarily "your wife". Use her name!
Looking forward to seeing what happens next!
ETA: A vid rec with footage up to and including 3x10: Rolling in the Deep by wistful_fever.